Ancient city

Sunday, October 24, 2010

I haven't had time to write anything about Sukhothai or upload my photos.  This is simply a place holder.  More posts after Myanmar.

Zipping through the jungle

Saturday, October 23, 2010

• Zip lining today was incredible.  I chose the 7:30-8am pick up for zip lining, which meant I was up at 6:30 to get ready and have breakfast
• Group was just me and a group of three: Melissa (Canada) studying in Vietnam, Kristi and Josh (Kansas) studying in China
• Hour drive, both of the girls felt sick as it was a fairly windy road
• Put on gear and walked to first platform
• Safety introduction… and we’re off. 
• I was somewhat afraid to jump off the first couple platforms and didn’t want to go.  I got used to it by the end but usually did a bit of screaming along the way.  So much fun!

• Beautiful views in the jungle
• 33 platforms, 2 sky bridges, 1 spiral staircase, 4 abseils (two 10 meters, 25 meter and 40 meter), longest cable was 300 meters

• Break for water and small cake
• 570 meters suspended canopy and swing walk half way through our zip lining; it felt like an extremely long walk and a lot of it was uphill
• More pictures on Shutterfly
• After zip lining we enjoyed a nice lunch in the Khamu village
• Drove back into Chiang Mai and arrived at 2pm; I was so exhausted I took a two hour nap
• Spent the afternoon reading, writing and uploading pictures
• Tuk tuk to dinner with Maggie (from Bangkok, who happened to be in Chiang Mai for the weekend from Mae Sot) and her friend at the tapas restaurant Su Casa – excellent food (artichoke croquets, potatoes in tomato sauce, meatballs, bread with tomatoes, spinach and apples)

• Drinks with some of their other friends at a small bar near Tha Phae gate
• Night night

At the top of Thailand

Friday, October 22, 2010

• Day trip to Doi Inthanon National Park – the trip took in a lot of great sights, but we had too much time to kill at most of them; raining on and off all day
• Wachirathan Waterfall
• Highest point in Thailand – 2565 meters above sea level

• Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and Nophamethanidon – two chedis built by the Royal Thai Air Force to commemorate the king’s and queen’s 60^th birthdays in 1989 and 1992 respectively; beautiful complex with stunning gardens

• Monk market – fairly small
• Lunch in the park
• Sirithan Waterfall
• Karen village
• Got back into town around 4:30pm.  I relaxed for a bit before grabbing an Italian dinner of gnocchi and tiramisu at de Stefano.

In the kitchen – Thai style

Thursday, October 21, 2010

• Cooking class – day started at the main building in Chiang Mai.  The guy who recommended the restaurant to me yesterday was in the class.  Mike is from Vancouver and it turns out he knows Rachel M from my birthright trip.  Small world.  We drove about 30 minutes outside of the city to the cooking school.
• Introduction to Thai ingredients
• Cooked the following:
• Tom Yam Goong (Thai hot and sour prawn soup)
• Tord Man Plaa (Thai style fish cakes)
• Gaeng Kaheo Wan Gai (Green curry with chicken)
• Phad Thai (Thai fried noodles)
• Laap Gai (Minced chicken salad)
• Tab Tim Grob (Water chestnuts with sugar syrup and coconut milk)

Me and Mike with our Tom Yam soup

Me with my green curry with chicken and phad thai

• Awesome day, the chef was hilarious
• Leg wax
• Relax at Happy house
• Met people from my cooking class (Mike and three others) for drink at an Irish pub.  We ended up moving to another bar because it was too crowded.  When I started falling asleep at the table I decided to walk back to my hotel.

Caught in the rain in Chiang Mai

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

• Breakfast at bus station (since Margarett’s favorite place was closed)
• Say goodbye; Margarett cried and made me almost cry
• Three hour bus ride to Chiang Mai, bought bus ticket to Sukhothai for Saturday
• Tuk tuk to hotel
• Explored Chiang Mai
• Pizza lunch at De Stefano
• Signed up for cooking class
• Met a guy as I was walking down the street who recommended the restaurant he was eating at
• Realized there is way too much to do in Chiang Mai and I want an extra day; a nice man at one of the booking agencies called the bus company to change the date of my ticket so I booked a tour on Friday with him
• Visited Wat Pun On and Wat Pundtow
• Walked around Wat Chedi Luang and it started pouring; I had no umbrella so I took cover under a tree with a couple from Switzerland, before we moved a house on the wat’s property

Wat Chedi Luang

• After 45 minutes of waiting and the rain not letting up, the guy went to get a tuk tuk
• Street was so flooded that our tuk tuk driver couldn’t get to the end; we had to get out
• Barely any sidewalk that was dry and the water level was rising quickly; I put plastic bags over my shoes and bag and start walking though the street

Flooded street

• Make it back to the hotel soaked
• Dinner at vegetarian café (the one the guy recommended)

Golden Triangle

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

• This morning I realized that the bottom part of my legs were burned from the kayak trip (because of the way I was sitting, my pants didn’t cover a small portion of my leg, hence the burn)
• Don’s café again for late breakfast
• Drive to Chiang Saen in Golden Triangle – area across the river in Laos is being heavily developed by the Chinese (casino is already open and they’re building more)
• Hall of Opium in Sop Ruak – impressive museum including a history of opium, opium culture in Asia and the effects of abuse
• Anatara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa for a drink.  Margarett knows the GM and the drinks ended up being on the house
• Bumpy ride back to Chiang Rai
• Dinner with Margarett’s friend Richard at a restaurant in Chiang Rai

Kayaking on the Mai Nam

Monday, October 18, 2010

• Quick breakfast at the house
• Drove to My Dream guesthouse
• Kayaked down the Mai Nam river

• Stop at old elephant camp for a drink
• More kayaking
• Stop off at Buddha images cave
• Ended our trip at 2pm for lunch at Chiang Rai beach

• Two hour Thai massage at temple – fantastic, though I’m really sore
• Food from market to take back to the house
• Relaxing evening

A day of rest

Sunday, October 17, 2010

• Slept in
• Roger made English breakfast – toast, eggs, baked beans, bacon, potatoes, fruit – fantastic

• Read
• Veronique, Patrice and Lulu and their French friend came over around 3pm
• Lulu and I watched Eclipse
• Hung out waiting for dinner, Bruno joined too
• Margarett cooked halibut, potatoes, spicy pork – scrumptious food
• Mango and chocolate pizza for dessert

Wat with a political agenda

Saturday, October 16, 2010

• Don’s café for breakfast – good food, but slow service and it took them almost 20 minutes to tell us there were no home fries
• Granite warehouse
• Bus station to get ticket to Chiang Mai
• Wat Rong Khun (aka White Wat) – Construction started in 1997 by a popular local artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat.  Completely white with mirrored chips.  Inside the main building was some very shocking political artwork including images of Spiderman and Superman and the World Trade Center on fire surrounded by an oil pump snake. Wish I could have taken a picture. Walked through Kositpipat’s gallery, an interesting mix of paintings.  One painting showed Bush and Osama bin Laden on a missile.

• Sat looking at the Wat while enjoying frozen coffee
• Drove back – stopped at supermarket on the way home
• Went to Bruno’s house to see the views – he has an incredible location overlooking the Mai Nam river.
• Quick visit at Roger and Margarett's local wat
• Back to town for dinner.  Ran into friends of Roger and Margarett’s who joined us.  Sat with a view of the clock tower (also by Kositpipat, which lights up with music on the hour).   Delicious food.
• Random performance at 9:15pm and we had front row seats.  Hung out until 11pm.

Compromise

Sadly I haven't been very good about writing in Thailand.  I have notes of each day, but not in the form I would usually post.  Since I'm leaving for Myanmar (Burma) tomorrow, and have a feeling that I won't be able to get on my blog for at least the next ten days or so, I am going to post what I have for Thailand.  Maybe I'll have time to write more in the next few days and can then update my posts.  But for now, they are going to be in rough form.  Pictures are already on Shutterfly for a visual story of what I've been up to.

Off the beaten path: Elephant riding

Friday, October 15, 2010

Today was fabulous.  I got to enjoy a somewhat authentic (at least it isn’t mentioned in the tour books) elephant ride.  This morning Roger was going to make breakfast, but by the time we finished our coffee, it was getting late and we needed to be at the elephant camp at 11am.  We met friends of Margarett and Roger, Veronique, Patrice and their daughter Lulu and went for lunch by the river since the elephants were out on another ride. 

When we got back to the camp, we feed and pet the elephants.  They are such amazing animals.  It was incredible to be so close, watching them suck the bananas from my hand into their trunk and then up to their mouths.  Lulu (who speaks Thai, French and English) and I rode her elephant while Margarett and Roger took another.  The mahouts took us on an hour ride which started on the main road before leading onto a trail.  We saw three enormous butterflies on a tree in addition to the traditional village and bright green rice paddies.  Then to our surprise, we turned off the path into the jungle.  The mahouts were literally chopping down tree branches with machetes so that we could get through; the elephants were ripping off branches for food.  It was pretty steep on the way down but it didn’t last more than ten minutes before we were back on flat ground.  Hysterical; a very non-touristy experience.  At least Lulu was able to communicate with the mahouts and we bonded over Twilight. 

Me and Lulu going through the jungle

On the way back to the house, we stopped at the Buddha images cave, a small Buddhist temple on Mae Nam Kok (river).  At a small stand on the side of the road we picked up some snacks for the short ride back.  I was exhausted from the heat and bumpy elephant ride and passed out for two hours.  Then it was time to get ready for dinner with some of their friends (Bruno, his wife, and a Thai friend of Margarett and Roger).  Margarett showed me how to make a flower arrangement while she prepared a leg of lamb, vegetables and potatoes, all of which were cooked in their wood-fire “pizza oven”.  Bruno brought over sticky rice in bamboo, but the heat of the oven overcooked it.  Fortunately, Margarett was able to save it and her lamb turned out perfectly.  A fabulous meal and lovely evening.

Thai friend, Bruno and me

Margarett and Roger

Intro to local Chiang Rai

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Slept in a bit today.  Felt good to have a long nights rest.  After enjoying some coffee on the deck, Margarett and I finally took off for town.  On the way we stopped at a local restaurant for some classic Northern Thai food (cashew chicken, fried morning glory).  Margarett wanted to show me some local places in town, so our first stop was a nursery.  Actually, it’s a bunch of smaller nurseries all selling different types of plants and flowers.  We spent a bit of time there buying plants.  Margarett was going to purchase a couple pots but the salesman tried to charge her 100 baht, 30 more baht than she’d paid for the same item last week.  She wasn’t having any of that and we left empty handed.

Our next stop was grocery shopping at a large shop similar to Costco.  We picked up lots of food for the next few days, some of it frozen, so we asked for bags of ice to keep it cold.  Apparently one worker told his friend, “This farang (foreigner) wants a lot of ice”.  The lines to check out resembled Costco.

Margarett wanted to pick up some flowers for the house, so we stopped into town, but she didn’t see any she liked and we ended up at a small hotel having a drink instead.  It was lovely sitting outside enjoying the afternoon mojito in hand.  We stayed around since the night market was getting under way and wandered through the stalls.  The market is similar to those in the rest of Asia; lots of handcrafts, jewelry, clothing, etc.  I picked up a copy of Eclipse (its not even out yet in the States) for just over $3, but other than that, I kept my wallet in my pocket.  While I was ordering a plain rosti, we bumped into Warren and David (from the airplane).  It was pretty random considering that Margarett doesn’t even live in Chiang Rai and we just happen to be browsing the market.

David, Warren, me and Margarett

Next thing we knew, it was 9pm and we haven’t eaten dinner.  So we stopped at the food stalls and ordered mixed tempura and beer, before driving back.

Passport please

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I’ve taken it easy today.  After an early morning yesterday, I was desperate to sleep in.  Since I felt like I’d seen the highlights of Bangkok, my goal today was simply to pack, pick up my visa and get on the plane to Chiang Rai.  Spent some time reading and writing.  At noon I stepped out of the hostel for lunch.  I found a street around the corner with a bunch of street stalls and eventually picked one serving a chicken noodle soup.  When I sat down at the table it was empty, but then a group of young Thai girls came and sat down, basically surrounding me.  And they were all giggling and definitely talking about me.  Of course, I had no idea how to eat the soup properly since the Thai add so much sugar and chili to their dishes.  It was tasty though and I focused on not making a mess of myself.

At 2pm I headed over to the Myanmar Embassy knowing that I’d be waiting for a while since pick-up didn’t start until 3pm.  There were a bunch of people milling around and just before 3 there was a massive rush to queue up.  I handed him my receipt and got my passport, with the Myanmar visa.  Woo hoo!  I’m going on the tour after all.  Such a relief; glad it all happened so quickly.  I was back at the hostel at 3:30pm and chatted with Maggie until 5pm when I needed to go to the airport.  Grabbed my bags and took the 10 minute walk to the skytrain, changed lines, and then got on the airport express.  It all went smoothly and check in was a breeze.

Since I was in the domestic departures area, the food selection wasn’t as wide as it had been outside.  I ended up having some chicken tenders from Burger King (don’t remember the last time I ate there) and a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s (couldn’t resist the sour cream and onion).  The flight was just over an hour long and towards the end of it I talked with two men, Warren and David (Seattle) who were in Chiang Rai for business.  We commented on how quickly the Thais tried to get off the plane.  There was quite a bit of pushing.  After I got my backpack, I walked out and looked for Roger (having no idea what he looked like).  A few seconds later I heard my name and we hopped in his truck for the drive to Chiang Rai.

Roger stopped in town for some fruit before heading home.  Roger and Margarett actually live in a small town 20 minutes outside Chiang Rai, so it was best to do the grocery shopping while we were near town.  I didn’t know what to expect of their house, and when Roger opened the gates to their compound my mouth dropped.  This is where I get to spend four nights?!?  Wow.  The house is stunning, in Thai style with fabulous doors and windows (many of which are old temple doors).  They have looked all over the region for materials for the house and the results are amazing.  The house is a work in progress as their container from the States only arrived a few weeks ago.  “My room” has two queen beds and two couches and a gorgeous bathroom; the shower cubicle is made up of a low wall with orchids on the top.  Spent a good time chatting with Margarett and Roger before bed.  I’m really looking forward to spending the next few days here.

My room

Floating market, Kanchanaburi, Tiger temple

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Early day today.  Woke up at 5:45am to be ready for 6:30am tour pick up.  Pouring rain.  After changing buses a few times, we finally got on the bus for the floating market.  Slept most of the way there.  Took a long-tail boat into Damnoen Saduak floating market; still raining. We had two hours to explore. The market was extremely tourist driven; felt like it was significantly different from the original market.  There were stalls along the walkways as well as the small boats selling food and crafts from the water.  I wanted to try the fried bananas but it was impossible to order just one, so I found a random group of people to share them with.  Definitely not enough there to keep us busy for two hours, so I sat with Maggie while she ate an early lunch. From the market, we split up; Maggie went back to Bangkok and I joined a different tour group.

Thirty minute drive to our lunch stop where we had a selection of four dishes (pretty good for a tour).  Another 20 minutes to the Second World War Museum and bridge over the River Kwai.  The museum had displays relating to the bridge and a collection of Thai weaponry but the random setup was odd and it didn’t feel like a real museum.  When I finished the museum, I walked across the 300 meter long bridge, called “Death Railway”, parts of which were destroyed by Allied bombs in 1945.  The construction material came from a dismantled bridge in Java and was first completed in 1943 before being replaced by a steel bridge.  The purpose of the bridge was to link Thailand and Burma in order to secure an alternative supply route for the Japanese conquest of other west Asian countries.  While it is an amazing feat of engineering, more than 100,000 laborers (prisoners and conscripted workers) died due to extreme conditions and brutality. 

Another 30 minute drive took us to Tiger Temple (aka Wat Luang Ta Bua Yanna Sampanno) where we arrived at 3pm (some areas close at 3:15).  I had my picture taken with a bunch of tigers, with one woman leading me around and the other snapping shots with my camera (I thought I’d only get one picture, but I actually got to stand next to six tigers and the woman took tons of pictures).  The tigers were just hanging out under trees on leashes; it seemed a little sad.  Didn’t even see the temple (if there is one).  After we left, I read in Lonely Planet that the site is controversial due to the docile nature of the tigers and the high cost of entry; I can see why. 

Three hour drive back to Bangkok.  The driver tried to make me get out at Khao San road (since technically I’d only paid to get picked up, not dropped off, at my hostel) but another woman was going to the same area.  I argued with the guy, so he called his supervisor who also told me I had to get off or pay 100 baht.  I was able to negotiate a 50 baht charge, which saved me getting out of the van to find a taxi.  We got stuck in heavy traffic going to Silom so I lucked out with my low fare.  Made it back at 7:45pm. Maggie had already eaten, so the other dorm-mate, Debs, and I went for dinner across the street since it was pouring rain again.  Tried the Tom Yam soup, which wasn’t too spicy since the chef actually understood my request to keep the heat low.  Long day.  Looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

All over Bangkok

Monday, October 11, 2010

My primary goal today was to sort out my Myanmar visa and find out how long I’d have to stick around Bangkok.  Since the Embassy didn’t open until 9am, I decided to get there around 8:30, but by the time I arrived, the doors were already open and there was a line.  I got behind some people and tried to figure out the process.  There were forms to fill out which were behind the desk and then you had to wait for a queue card to hand in the application.  It didn’t make much sense and most people seemed confused.  The guy behind me decided to go to the front and get applications so I was able to fill out the information as I waited.  There was an American girl a few people in front of me who started policing the line since people started cutting.  She kept explaining the process to people as she’s done it before.  It was fairly chaotic. 

When I got to the front, I handed in my application and asked for the express service.  After looking through my documents, and being asked for a copy of my passport (which I just happen to have on me) I got my queue card.  It didn’t take long before I was called to the desk.  The guy reviewed my documents, asked a few questions, made me pay the 810 baht and told me I could come back on Wednesday afternoon to get my passport.  Success!  And not only that, but the turn-around time is a lot quicker than I expected.

I made it back to the hostel by 9:45am and Maggie and I decided to go sightseeing.  We walked towards the waterfront and on the way stopped for sweet grilled banana, sliced pineapple and at Starbucks (I couldn’t resist as I hadn’t seen one since Beijing).  We sipped our cold frappuccinos as we strolled to the river.  The plan was to take a boat to Wat Pho, but there were men selling canal tours and Maggie convinced me that we should take one.  So we had a private 1.5 hour long-boat ride through some canals, seeing the local part of Bangkok as well as some wats.  We stopped off at Wat Arun (its most prominent feature is the 82-meter high prang, a Khmer-style tower) to walk around for half an hour before our boat dropped us off at Wat Pho.

Wat Pho (aka Wat Phra Chetuphon) is famous for its Temple of the Reclining Buddha, built in 1781 and housing one of the largest reclining buddhas in Thailand at 46 meters long and 15 meters high.  The gold leafed Buddha was pretty impressive, especially the feet which have 108 auspicious signs of the Buddha.  We walked around the other temples on the grounds before heading to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.  It was already 3pm and Maggie and I were hungry but the Palace closed at 4:30, so we knew we had to push past the hunger.  Starting at Wat Phra Kaew, famous for the Emerald Buddha, we walked around the temple grounds before checking out some of the buildings of the Grand Palace. 

By the time we were finished, we were exhausted and hungry.  We negotiated with a tuk tuk driver to take us to Khao San road and eventually found somewhere to eat.  Even though we were full, the ice cream stand nearby caught our attention.  Khao San was pretty busy and walking around made me glad I wasn’t staying in the area; it was very touristy and most of the restaurants seemed to cater to visitors.  Maggie and I booked a day tour for tomorrow to the floating market and I’ll continue on my own to Kanchanaburi and the Tiger temple. 

Our next stop was Siam Tower to check out the famous high-tech cinemas.  Back in a tuk tuk.  When we got there we didn’t realize that the Siam complex was so large and it took about 20 minutes walking through the huge shopping mall to find the movie theater.  Sadly, the only movie we wanted to see, Wall Street, wasn’t playing for two hours and was only in the expensive theater.  We debated for a bit and decided to splurge.  I had a book, so I read for a bit while Maggie walked around the mall.

We went into the pre-movie lounge 30 minutes before the movie to enjoy our “free” soda and cookies.  To our surprise, the massage chairs were empty, so we jumped in to relax.  The theater itself only had about 50 seats, all in pairs with huge chairs, blankets and pillows.  Such a fun experience as we curled up in our chairs to enjoy the movie.  Previews and commercials lasted longer than they do in the States but the movie eventually started.  At some point during the film I realized I had totally forgotten where I was and had to remind myself that I was sitting at a movie theater in Thailand.  The movie didn’t finish until midnight and we grabbed a taxi back to the hostel. 

It was such a wonderful long day in Bangkok.  I’m glad I spent the day with Maggie and mentioned this to her numerous times during the day.  I don’t think my experience in the city would have been nearly as fun on my own.  Not only that, but we wanted to do the same activities and were willing to spend the money for them.  Starting at 6:30am tomorrow; better get to sleep.

First Taste of Thailand

Sunday, October 10, 2010

On to another country.  Wow.  The fact that I was in Vietnam just this morning is hard to comprehend.  I ate a quick breakfast at the hotel before they ordered me a taxi to the airport.  As I was getting into the car, two American girls asked if we could share.  I was more than happy to split the cost and we headed to the airport together.  They’d been living in Thailand for six months and had a couple weeks in Vietnam before flying back to the States.  It was a perfect opportunity for me to get some information about Thailand.

Once I checked in for my flight to Bangkok, I became excited about the fact that I was actually going to Thailand, and I willingly shared that excitement with the girls.  When I finally got to the gate, I heard my name being called.  David and Mai-Anh (from Sapa and Hue) were on the same flight.  I didn’t even know they were going to Thailand, but apparently they have a friend who’s showing them around for a couple of days before they go back to Vietnam.  So random.

Clearing Thai passport control was easy enough for me (David and Mai-Anh got stuck because they didn’t know their friend’s address) and my luggage eventually made its way onto the carrousel.  I stopped by the information desk to double check my bus and the woman suggested that I take the new fast train (only opened for a month and one tenth the cost of the bus) into the city.  There were very few Westerners on the train, but I ended up sitting next to a guy from Carlsbad who works in Thailand one month every two.  Since he’s been to Bangkok a number of times, I figured he was a good person to stick with.  However, when we changed to the skytrain, he went to the wrong platform.  I looked at the map and realized we were headed the wrong direction and luckily I was able to convince him of this fact before we boarded the train.  He was nice enough though to give me his extra train pass.

About an hour later, I got off the skytrain and found my way to the hostel, hoping that they still had rooms available.  I’m staying in a six-bed female dorm in the women only section (meaning that we have our own shared bathroom, which happens to be incredibly nice, especially for a hostel).  I spent some time talking to a couple of other girls on the floor before finally going out to find the Myanmar embassy.  One disadvantage of the hostel is that it is not in the backpacker’s area near Khao San road.  But it got such wonderful reviews on hostel world, and is extremely close to the Embassy of Myanmar, that I figured it was worth staying in the Silom part of Bangkok.

On my way to the Embassy, I stopped for lunch.  There was a huge festival taking place at the temple across the street with lots of music and stalls selling flowers.  In honor of the festival, the restaurant was only serving vegetable dishes.  I couldn’t tell what any of the dishes were, but a woman came in who spoke English, and explained.  She even got the owner to let me try a couple curries before picking one.  The “a little bit of spice” curry that I ordered had my mouth on fire.  I couldn’t drink enough water to try to tame the burning in my mouth.  A couple men who sat down next to me noticed that I was struggling with my food.  One tried to speak with me a bit, but the conversation was pretty limited.  When I finished and asked for the bill, the man offered to pay for my food.  I politely declined at first, but I don’t know the Thai etiquette (like in Russia where you would never refuse a drink) and when he insisted, I conceded.

After lunch, I continued down the street and found the embassy.  For an embassy, the visa building looked really sketchy, just a locked door with a sign stating it was the Embassy of the Union of Myanmar visa office open from 9am (the key piece of information I needed).  I took a different street back to the hostel but it didn’t end up being as direct as I anticipated.  Luckily, I found my back but I did feel as though I was wandering in a desolate area.

I was sitting downstairs in the hostel when an American girl checked in (I overheard her complaining about the fact that the lockers had no locks as she didn’t bring one and it doesn’t mention that on the website).  Turned out Maggie was staying in my room so we started chatting.  She’s from Palo Alto and is working in Mae Sot, Thailand for nine months.  She had business in Bangkok and came down a few days early to explore.  At 8pm we finally left the hostel to get something to eat and ended up at a street stall a few blocks down the road.  I ordered a phad siewe dish, which was very mild, especially compared with my lunch.  We had a nice time chatting and eventually came back to shower and go to sleep.

On the Mekong Delta

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Today was an interesting day.  I took an organized tour to the Mekong Delta area.  The area is a huge part of Vietnam and has its own culture, but I didn’t feel like I experienced it fully.  I had to be at the tour office at 7:30am for a 7:45 departure.  When I arrived, there were a bunch of Asians standing around and panic crept in that my tour would be a repeat of my bus ride.  Luckily, my fears were unfound although I quickly starting talking to the first Western couple (Samantha and Tom, Australia) that entered the bus.

We had a two hour bus ride from Saigon to My Tho where we boarded a local motor boat.  We rode on the Tien River past Dragon and Phoenix Islands before stopping at Unicorn Island.  On the island we tasted honey tea at a bee keeping farm; we had to drink the tea very quickly as the bees started swarming when we waited too long.  Two women (Katrien and Marleen, sisters from Holland) joined our table and the five of us hung out for the remainder of the morning.  Our second stop was an orchard where we had the opportunity to taste pamelo, papaya, pineapple, banana and rhambatan.  Some traditional music, played by a four-person group, created a pleasant background noise while we enjoyed our fruit.  Just before we went on the four person rowing boats it started raining; it continued raining on and off for the entire day.

From the rowing boat, we got back on the motor boat which took us to Ben Tre Island, famous for its handmade coconut candy.  A few people demonstrated the candy making process before giving us ample time to purchase their products.  The candy had a strange flavor to me, so I passed on buying anything.  We were supposed to take the small row boats again, but due to the rain and the long queue of people waiting, our guide took us straight to lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant.  Even though a small plate of food was included in the tour, our table decided to share the famous local elephant fish which was served whole then wrapped in rice paper with vegetables.  We had free time after lunch to ride bikes on the island, but it was pouring rain and the bikes were a bit old so I figured it would be challenge for me to ride with my finger.  Since I was supposed to take the bus back to Saigon, I had an extra hour of free time.  However our guide decided to give me a special price on the high speed boat which would arrive in Saigon almost two hours earlier, and I took him up on the offer.  I said goodbye to the sisters, who were spending two nights in the Delta, and got on the boat with Samantha and Tom.  It was a 2.5 hour boat ride, so after the first hour of staring out the window at the houses on the water (most of which were partially under water), I read my book.  

Back in Saigon, a bus took us to our hotels and I stopped in my room, chatting with the people on the floor below me, before heading out for my last Vietnamese meal.  The owner of the hotel recommended Kim’s Café, so I took his suggestion and ordered a bowl of beef pho.   Now I’m just packing up and preparing myself for Thailand.  Not sure what to expect as I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay in Bangkok. 

An amazing three weeks in Vietnam. 

Quick exploration of Saigon

Friday, October 8, 2010

This morning, after breakfast and icing my finger, I took the 9am bus from Mui Ne to Saigon.  Of 20 people on the tourist bus I was somehow the only Westerner, everyone else was Chinese.  So much for meeting people on the bus ride; I couldn’t even communicate with them.  I sat looking out the window listening to my music.  We had a 40 minute break at 11:50am for lunch before continuing the last two hours to Saigon.  One reason travel takes so long in this country is the fact that it is impossible to get any speed on the road.  I’m not very good when it comes to car speed, but I don’t think the bus went over 40mph the entire trip.  The main roads just don’t move like they should.

The bus arrived in Saigon at 2:30pm, dropping me a few minutes walk from the hotel I’d pre-booked.  The hotel is down a small alley (with lots of other guesthouses), so I have a quiet room just off a main street.

With only today to explore the city, I applied some sunscreen and headed out into the heat.  I walked to the reunification palace (which was closer than I thought it would be) and rushed through it in less than an hour (no one offered to show me around and I got very confused with where I was supposed to go after the video).  The other necessary stop was the War Remnants Museum where I also only had an hour to explore.  I read through some of the history section (a Vietnamese perspective on the war) and was thoroughly intrigued by the photography exhibit (showing human cruelty) when the museum closed.  There was no warning.  An alarm sounded at 5pm and the woman started locking up the gallery.  Guess that’s it.  While I was at the museum I ran into a couple guys, Kieran and Niall, who I’d met in Halong Bay (they were on the boat for the one-night trip when we got on from the island) and saw again in Hue.  They invited me to join them for dinner at 7pm, which made me feel a lot better about not having met anyone on the bus.

Reunification Palace

I wandered to the Notre Dame Cathedral and French style post office (almost bought some stamps but I’m not big on postcards) before strolling back to Pham Ngu Lao road to book a tour for tomorrow to the Mekong Delta.  Met up with Kieran and Niall; our group at Crazy Buffalo turned into ten while we sat for a drink.  I spoke a lot with two of the girls (Lucinda and Rachael from England) and Dan (New York), before we all decided to look for a restaurant for dinner.  We ended up at local place a few blocks away where I tried rice noodles.  We went to another place for a drink after dinner, but I didn’t feel like having alcohol so I sat and chatted for a while before coming back to the hotel.  Tomorrow I’m off to the Mekong, for my last day in Vietnam.

A minor injury

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Considering how tired I was last night, I didn’t sleep very well.  This morning I had a bit of a mini-breakdown while on the phone with my mom.  As much as I’m loving my trip, and I really am enjoying every experience, it’s still hard to be on the road.  I still have six weeks until I fly to the States and while the time is going quickly, sometimes it feels overwhelming.  I’m definitely glad I signed up for a three week tour to Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.  I think part of my problem is that Thailand is up I the air because I don’t know the process for getting my Myanmar visa.

Anyway, I went for breakfast and managed to pull myself together.  I decided to sit in a lounge chair in the shade by the pool overlooking the beach.  I was adjusting the back of the chair when it slipped out of my grip and landed on my finger.  So of course the waterworks started again, even though I was trying to be strong and brush it off.   Called mom again and dad was just getting home so I went online to show him my finger.  It was already bruising and he said I should have it x-rayed (since its my right pointer finger – making it a bit harder to type right now).  I soaked it in ice water for 20 minutes then asked the hotel if there was a hospital nearby (also asked a woman at the hotel who happened to be a nurse to have a look).  The best way for me to get there was motorbike.  On the way through town, the driver stopped at what looked like a small pharmacy but is actually a clinic or something.  I sat and waited for the doctor.  The nurses took my temperature (under my armpit) and blood pressure (111/70).  When the doctor pressed around different parts of my finger, he determined that it was just a sprain and put it in a splint.  There were about six nurses watching the process, one fanning me since there was no aircon; apparently some of the electricity wasn’t working.  The doctor gave me a few extra gauze strips and tape and told me to wear the splint for two weeks.  Ahhh, such a pain in the neck.

Due to the lack of electricity, the credit card machine wasn’t working, and my motorbike driver needed to take me to an ATM to get cash.  We ended up going to two machines since the first one wouldn’t give me as much cash as I wanted (neither would the second for that matter but it gave a bit more).  Then back to pay.  At this point, it was noon, so I asked the guy to drop me at a restaurant to have lunch since we were in the main part of town.  I went to the Italian place and ordered pizza and a smoothie feeling sorry for myself.  Luckily, I had my kindle, so I read while I waited for my lunch.  An hour later, the driver came back to take me to my hotel. Pretty sure I overpaid him, but at least I got a lot of stops out of it.

This afternoon I’ve just been relaxing, which was the plan for today, minus the finger.  I’d considered taking a tour to the sand dunes at 2pm and when there was a short downpour at 3pm was happy I hadn’t (guess everything worked out, right?).  Read and iced my finger.  Relaxed listening to music at the pool.  Enjoyed just hanging out.

Went for dinner at a restaurant across the street from my hotel and ended up running into a couple I’d met in Sapa and another couple from Hue – and I’m not even staying in the heart of town, nor was it a LP recommended restaurant.  Pretty small world in the Vietnam travel network.  Now I’m off to bed with my finger elevated.

Motorcycle Diary

Tuesday, October 5, 2010 and Wednesday, October 6, 2010

I have not seen a single tourist since I left Dalat yesterday morning with Tu.  We’ve been all around the countryside from Dalat to Di Linh to Mui Ne and everyone along the way was Vietnamese.  My Easy Rider tour fully met my expectations: a true glimpse into normal life in Vietnam.  Tu was a fabulous guide – professional, considerate, knowledgeable, etc.  He made me feel completely comfortable on the bike and travelling around with him as a single woman.  I’ve seen so much in the past 30 hours that I’m going to jot a list of all the events and add some details at the end (similar to what I did in the last post).

Tuesday: Met Tu at 8:30am to get the bike ready for our adventure.  Cloudy but not raining.  Thank goodness for that.

• Dalat railway station – opened in 1938, retains its original French art deco architecture and colored-glass windows
• Tran Hung Dao Street – large French colonial villas from the 1930s and 40s
• View of Dalat
• Tuyen Lam Lake – created when the dam was built
• Truc Lam Buddhist Temple - Meditation place
• Countryside
• Scallion pickers
• Chicken village – weaving demonstration from local woman, school visit (during lunch break when all the kids go home)
• Small town – people usually make hard rice crackers, not today, instead talked to two 17 year old girls who stopped in to practice their English
• Lunch – very local place; we pulled off the road just as it started raining, rained all of lunch but was basically clear by the time we left
• Black mushroom farm
• People cleaning roots on the side of the road
• Peppercorn plants
• While mushroom farm
• Incents lady
• Brick making factory
• Passion fruit plants – Tu bought a bagful for me to try
• Waterfall – Loi Xuong Thac - walk was a bit slippery and long, so I went half way down before turning back
• Hotel in Di Linh – Tu booked me in a large room on the top floor facing the countryside
• Dinner – local place across from the hotel

Wednesday: Met at 7:30, Beautiful morning

• Breakfast at a cute place in town which I’d noticed when we drove through town yesterday.  Had some of the passion fruit alongside my omelet and bread.
• Tea fields – hung out for a bit while Tu talked to the local tea pickers
• Waterfall – I slipped and landed on my ass on the way down; luckily I wasn’t hurt
• View point of jungle
• Another viewpoint
• Small village –handed out cakes to the kids who disposed of the wrappers on the ground (Tu and I talked about this); locals were drying corn for storage
• Tu helps a guy with his motorbike-gives him gas
• Dragon fruit farms
• Lunch – local crowed joint on the road to Mui Ne
• Drive to Mui Ne
• Goodbye Tu

If I can't find a job in CA maybe I'll become a tea picker

 A highlight yesterday was talking to the school girls in the small town.  They recognized the Easy Rider bike and thought they could practice their English.  We talked a bit before Tu took over communicating in Vietnamese and translating.  They were such shy, sweet girls, and I tried to give them advice on ways to improve their English. 

Today seemed to involve more driving and a bit less sightseeing as we coved over 100km., fortunately without a single drop of rain.  Maybe it was searching for a place to stay in the heat, or the fact that I was on my own again, or just that I’d had a wonderful three days with my Vietnamese driver Tu but I started crying after we said goodbye.  I was certainly glad to be off the motorbike; for me it was getting uncomfortable even though I loved the scenery.  A truly unique experience.

Sunset in Mui Ne

This afternoon, I walked towards the center of Mui Ne.  Had no clue how long the road was along the beach – 10km in the heart and 20km total, so I walked for ages and didn’t get very far before walking back along the beach.  Chatted with two British women.  Sunset was beautiful.  Relaxed for a bit before going across the street for dinner.  Western food at a place run by a French couple.  Spaghetti and a passion fruit drink.  Watched The Ugly Truth on TV and spent time on facebook and talking to my parents.

Dalat Easy Rider

Monday, October 4, 2010

My goal today was to find an Easy Rider (motorbike guide) to show me the countryside around Dalat.  As I was eating breakfast, a Vietnamese guy sat down next to me to tell me about his motorbike and experience as an Easy Rider.  I have to admit, I was kind of skeptical at first because the tour books tell you to watch out for copycats, but after reading some of Mr. Tu’s reviews, I decided to go for it.

Ready to ride

It would be silly for me to describe everything I saw today, so I’m simply going to make a list and write about some of the experiences.

• Temple
• Vegetable farms
• Short walk to viewpoint
• Countryside
• Flower garden
• Forest
• Coffee plants
• Elephant Falls
• Lunch
• Silk factory
• Hag Nga Guest House and Art Gallery (aka Crazy House)

Considering I’ve never spent more than five minutes on a motorbike (and that was 2.5 weeks ago in Hanoi when they guy took me to the train station), hiring a guide for the day was a big step for me.  Fortunately, the drivers in Vietnam take things much slower than those in the States and Tu had some quality looking helmets (helmets are required in Vietnam, unlike China, but most people wear ones that are more of a fashion statement than for protection).  I was strapped in my helmet, the ear pieces slightly wet from the previous days rain.

I felt the rush as Tu started down the road creating wind that didn’t exist before.  But I barely needed to hold on after the first few minutes because I felt totally comfortable.  Plus, Tu had a case on the back of the bike which acted like a back rest, so it wasn’t like I was going to slip off.  Being in the countryside, away from the noise of the city was refreshing.  I loved seeing the farmland and greenhouses, real family businesses that don’t rely on tourism.  Tu gave me some history on the area and I even asked some questions about the war.  While we were stopped at a viewpoint, I met a couple of girls from California; they were from Thousand Oaks of all places (for those of you who don’t know, TO is the town basically next to Oak Park).

As we were driving to the Elephant Waterfall, it started raining, so we hopped off the bike to put on our raingear.  Tu carries waterproof pants and jacket for his clients – excellent considering that bursts of rain seem common in this country.  By the time we got to the falls it had already stopped raining; just a quick heavy downpour.  I walked with the two TO girls and their guide down to the falls.  A slippery walk given everything was wet; I took my time as I was afraid of slipping.

Lunch - enough for six people

Tu and I shared an enormous lunch.  There must have been at least six, if not eight, dishes, plus rice. Way too much food.  The girls helped eat some of it and then we were off again.  Visiting the silk factory was an enlightening experience as I had no idea how silk was made.  There must have been 15 women soaking the cocoons and then stringing the silk onto spinning wheels; the strands are so thin it was hard to see that they were doing anything.  It started pouring again, so it was back in the rain gear for the ride back to town.  We stopped at the Crazy House where I waddled around in the oversized waterproof pants.  I have to admit, the bike wasn’t nearly as fun in the rain.

Silk factory

Since I had already considering a longer trip with an Easy Rider (originally I wanted to take one from Nha Trang to Dalat), Tu took me to a café to discuss options.  Due to my limited time for the rest of Vietnam, I knew a two-day trip from Dalat to Mui Ne would be my only option (meaning one day less in Saigon).  He showed me on the map where we would go and I agreed it sounded like a great plan (I had already made up my mind when we were driving around anyway).  The only sticking point was the price; I was expecting a certain amount and it was 40% more.  He came down slightly and I decided that I was in, given it’s an experience I might not ever have again.

I had a couple hours to relax before meeting Amir and Ruthie for dinner at Wild Flower. We had a lovely meal and basically closed down the restaurant.  Now I need to pack up for my two-day motorcycle adventure to Mui Ne.

Cooking at Red Bridge and Sleeper bus

Saturday, October 2, 2010 and Sunday, October 3, 2010
(written on the sleeper bus on the evening of October 2)

Excited to start the day today. Got ready and had breakfast before heading over to Kimmy’s for a fitting. Loved the new dress I picked out and the other ones were coming along. Still had some changes I wanted made, so I told them I’d come back at 4pm. Took so long that I didn’t have time to do my shoes. I rushed over to Hai Café, but it turned out we sat for a while before going to the market. Foul (I think that’s what her name was) showed us the market and pointed out local produce. More rain, so the umbrellas got in the way a bit. My group of six was me, Michelle, her daughter Jackie and brother David (who I’d been talking to at the welcome drink) and a couple (George and Laura); all from Australia.

Boarded the boat to the school which is a few kilometers from Hoi An. Beautiful setting but it rained the whole boat ride. Had a welcome drink before going to the demonstration area. The chef had a fabulous sense of humor. He first made a seafood salad served in a pineapple bowl. We didn’t get to make it ourselves, but we did try it at lunch. Next on tap was rice paper. You must leave rice in water for seven hours and then it becomes milky. Spread the milky substance over a cloth on heat and cover for a few minutes. A shrimp and vegetable mix went on the inside. Then we went to our stations and got to make the rice paper ourselves. Mine had a couple small holes, but when I wrapped the prawn mix inside and rolled it you couldn’t see them. Fresh spring roll - delicious.


Making rice paper

 

Next dish was a Hoi An pancake with seafood. After watching, it was back to the stations to prepare the dish. Put oil in the small pan, then poured in the batter which had the shrimp; topped with sprouts and scallions. Pour off oil. Turn over with spatula. Place pancake in rice paper with greens and wrap. Very tasty.

Last course was eggplant in a clay pot. Had to chop the garlic, lemongrass, eggplant and tomato. First put the garlic and tomatoes in, then the eggplant and some turmeric, sugar, salt and pepper. The chili and lemongrass were added later. We let that cook while we made some food decorations, one from cucumber one from tomato. Mine were so bad. The cucumber broke since I’d cut the slices too thick and I couldn’t manage to peel the skin off the tomato correctly to make a rose. Oh well.

My sad food art and eggplant in clay pot

When our clay pots were done, we took them to the table and were served rice. Next on the menu was the seafood salad with rice crackers and lastly a fish dish which we wrapped in rice paper (recipe not given). All the food was fantastic; wonderful day with fabulous people.

Got back to Hoi An by boat and arrived at 3pm. Went to get my shoes, which fit pretty well and look nice, then back to Kimmy’s. Red jacket looked great (I changed the pockets and added a lining), so did the new short-sleeved shirt (they took off the buttons on the sleeves). The black dress fit perfect but the two others still needed some small changes, and I sat there while they worked. In the end, everything turned out really well.

When I went to pay and ship, I found out that the only service to the US is the expensive airmail (which still takes 3-4 weeks) and was costly for 5.5 kgs. But what was I supposed to do? There was no way I could travel with three dresses, two jackets, two skirts, three shirts and a pair of shoes. All-in-all, the items were a lot less than they would have been in the States and fit perfectly to my body. I’m excited to wear everything when I get back.

By the time I finished at Kimmy’s, I had less than an hour at the hotel. Walked to Sinh Café to get my bus to Nha Trang. And that’s where I am right now, currently sitting on the left side of the bus on the top bunk in my little sleeper bed. I’m excited to be having this experience since it’s so different to what I’m used to. Glad I was able to get my writing done for today and just watched the latest episode of Glee. Should be an interesting journey since the toilet isn’t working (we just had a rest stop) but I plan on taking an Ambien and going to bed. It’s currently 8:45pm and we arrive in Nha Trang around 6am.


On the sleeper bus

(written on the bus on October 3)


Am now on the bus from Nha Trang to Dalat. The sleeper bus was easy. I watched Grey’s Anatomy after our rest stop then took an Ambien. It wasn’t the best night sleep but I didn’t really wake up until 5:30am when we arrived outside Nha Trang. There was a tranquil beauty driving along the beach at dawn before being crowded with tourists. I used the internet for a few minutes and then strolled along the beach for 30 minutes before coming back to get on the bus to Dalat, a seated, not sleeper bus. The road has been extremely curvy and not paved in parts, so it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride. There is also a hint of smelly feet in the air which is highly unpleasant.



I decided to go through the photos on my camera because I need to make some space and I have too many old ones. Looking back on the first six weeks of my trip brought back fabulous memories. I feel so blessed to have seen so many places, experience different cultures and taste a variety of foods. It’s times like these that strengthen my will to travel and continue to excite me for the future. I’m so delighted I’m here.

(written in Dalat)

Made it to Dalat.  Was looking for a hotel when I met an Israeli couple heading to the same place.  We decided to hop in a taxi; thank goodness because it was a lot further than I anticipated.  There was only one room available so I told them I’d find something else.  Peace Hotel (mentioned in Footprint) was around the corner and cost $6 a night, versus the $20 at the other place, so I settled in there and told Amir and Ruthie that I’d meet them for dinner.  Peace café, on the ground floor of the hotel, seemed a popular place to hang out and I met some girls and decided to join them for a walk around Dalat.

The city is very hilly and a lot bigger than the Lonely Planet map makes out.  After stopping in the central market, we strolled down to the lake and ended up walking the entire 7km perimeter.  Once it started raining, I was ready to go back to the hotel to relax.  Met up with Amir and Ruthie, as planned, and we enjoyed dinner at Chocolate.  Lovely evening but by the time we were done I needed to get to bed.